THEATER REVIEW / ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ PARODY : Making Mock : Ensemble portrays the inept efforts of a group of tacky British society matrons trying to stage a literary classic with gusto.

Finally!

After all the interminable amateur productions of “A Christmas Carol” you’ve ever been forced to squirm through, along comes a first-rate parody of third-rate theater.

Revenge is sweet.

The inept efforts of a group of tacky British society matrons trying to stage a literary classic is a premise that affords all sorts of comic opportunities in the best Monty Python-Fawlty Towers tradition. Few of these opportunities are left unexplored in the Ensemble Theatre Company’s version of--take a deep breath--”The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Production of A Christmas Carol.”

It might arguably be a recognizable production of “A Christmas Carol” if the good Townswomen could put aside their petty bickering and get on with the show. But that’s not likely given the perpetual animosity between co-directors and stars Thelma Greenwood (Gretchen Evans) and Phoebe Reece (Emma Jane Huerta).

These uneasy collaborators have even embellished their adaptation with original songs (music by Thelma, lyrics by Phoebe) that push the limits of holiday tolerance (“Why do reindeer learn to fly?/In the summer they won’t try . . . Why do turkeys get depressed?/I’ll tell you if you haven’t guessed . . . It’s because it’s Christmas, Christmas time again.”

The multitalented Phoebe may have also designed the makeup, but as the Xeroxed program spells out in no uncertain terms, Thelma’s makeup is by herself.

Undaunted by Phoebe’s persistent attempts to upstage her, Thelma plunges ahead, bringing an ambitious new perspective to the traditionally male role of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. “I have saved almost a shilling this year,” she gloats, “by touching up my own roots!”

Alas, Scrooge’s complacency is shattered not only by the standard ghostly visitations but by technical foul-ups that prove even more bloodcurdling. Like Phoebe’s sinister appearance as the shrouded Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come with an elegant black handbag dangling from her outstretched wrist.

When stage manager Gordon Pugh (Christopher Vore) makes his first appearance as Marley’s Ghost, his head gets stuck in the door-knocker hole. Later he appears in Scrooge’s bedroom still encased in the door, prompting the funniest of this play’s many funny scenes. After several vain attempts to accept Scrooge’s offer of a chair to sit on, he at last ad-libs, “I prefer to stand, actually.”

Multiple supporting roles in the ill-fated production make strenuous demands on Felicity (Cherilyn Milton) and poor Mercedes (Nancy Nufer). Felicity barely survives the immobility of a grotesquely padded snowman costume.

Plucky Mercedes, a victim of a recent supermarket cart pileup and still brandishing a cane and neck brace (“No problem--just the occasional white hot flash of searing agony”) hobbles hilariously through her turns as a sprightly Bob Cratchit, as Scrooge’s long-lost love Belle, and as the cheeky Turkey Boy who has considerable difficulty picking up the money that repentant Scrooge has thrown to him.

The fictional performers may be amusingly incompetent, but getting them to look that way under Robert G. Weiss’ exacting pacing is a fine accomplishment for the hard-working Ensemble cast, and for Evans in particular.

The first act is rapid-fire dazzle, the second nearly as much fun except for a short audience participation sequence that slows the momentum--it’s hard to take even a brief pause from the missed cues, low-rent props, and mangled dialogue in this frontal assault on the last shreds of straight-faced dignity Dickens’ Yuletide cliche can still muster.

The show’s creators, David McGillivary and Walter Zerlin Jr., obviously intended us to laugh at these characters, not with them. That’s not difficult given the impeccable comic performances from this very talented cast.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Production of A Christmas Carol” will be performed through Jan. 3, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. (Sunday and Dec. 20 and 27) or 2 p.m. (Jan. 3) at the Alhecama Theatre, 914 Santa Barbara St. in Santa Barbara. Tickets are $12-$16. Running time is 2 hours. For reservations or further information, call 962-8606.